Database Versioning with IDS

This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------2F5340882B7EEC0DC69F961C Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hello all! I would like to get your opinions about having different database versions for development or testing purposes in an IDS environment. Apparently, the database vendors are not working in database version management, so we have to find a way to maintain the change control, as we do with source code files. There are several needs that could involve in having several version of the database. A version could be a database with change at the schema level or at the data level. Differently from SE, which create a directory for each database, IDS doesn't allow to have several databases with the same name within the same configuration (ONCONFIG). Even though we could rename a database, we couldn't use the programs with that renamed database. I think that Informix and the other database vendors should provide a concept like synonym applying to databases rather than tables, in such way that we could refer to a database with a logical name within the programs and just change the synonym/link to the desired database. I use a similar concept with SE trough UNIX symbolic links. The first thing that comes to my mind in this issue is to have as many ONCONFIG as desired databases versions. But, this approach will be very resource consuming. Obviously, we'll need other tools, as script files to implement a fully version control. I hope that my english had been fluently enough to let me understood.. Could you send your comments about this issue? Thanks in advance! --------------2F5340882B7EEC0DC69F961C Content-Type: text/x-vcard; charset=us-ascii; name="vcard.vcf" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Description: Card for Melvin Perez Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="vcard.vcf" begin: vcard fn: Melvin Perez n: Perez;Melvin org: CAM Informatica. S. A. email;internet: cam@codetel.net.do title: Technical Vicepresident tel;work: (809) 686-5574 tel;fax: (809) 686-5467 tel;home: (809) 227-2893 x-mozilla-cpt: ;-960 x-mozilla-html: FALSE version: 2.1 end: vcard --------------2F5340882B7EEC0DC69F961C--